The White House Haunting
by luna raya
Summary: The Cullen family has inhabited the large white house in Washington for generations. But a tragedy turns the majestic manor into something malicious. What lies in wait for those who visit it? Canon couples, supernatural mischief, and the workings of Halloween.


_Hello! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Breathe. I love Halloween, it's my favorite holiday and this story popped in my head so I had to get it out. Hope you enjoyJ Just a little one shot._

_Disclaimer: Not mine, just have a twisted mind lol._

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It was a house that no one had lived in for more than a century. It had once belonged to the Cullen's, a prominent family in the new Northwest. And for more than two hundred years, the house had passed down through generations. Of course to believe that was to believe wealth had reached the likes of modern day Washington State long before anyone truly began to settle in the region, let alone travel it.

Three generations lived in this house when tragedy struck. It was All Hallows Eve and the family, which included two strapping young men, and a girl, were just settling down for dinner when the youngest child, Edward, a boy of only eight years, accidentally knocked into a table while running from his older brother, Jasper. In striking the table, young Edward unintentionally knocked over one of the candles placed near the dining room's window. The small flame from the candle immediately jumped to the drapery, spreading fast. The elder Cullen, Carlisle, quickly leapt to his feet, dragging the fine silk table cloth with him to smother than growing flames.

But it would not do.

Esme Cullen, the family matriarch, grabbed a pitcher of water from the bar, hoping to douse the flames. She instructed their servants to bring more water, running buckets in a line. But still the fire spread.

In the end, seeing know other alternative, Carlisle Cullen ordered his most trusted house maid, Jane, to pull the children to safety. Jasper, daughter Rosalie, and young Edward, were torn from the estate's front door just as flames overran the building, taking it down.

Carlisle and Esme, along with four house servants, perished in the blaze.

Jasper, Rosalie and Edward were sent east, to New York City, to live with Carlisle's younger brother, Caius, and his wife, Abigail.

Upon maturation, Jasper, being the oldest, was given control of the destroyed Cullen estate in the northwest. But he did not want it. Not only were there too many memories, but Jasper had found love with one Mary Alice Brandon, and was intent on courting her before asking for her hand in marriage. He had a knack for politics as well, and was looking to run for office as well after marriage. With his life set before him, Jasper had no desire to leave the east coast.

Next there was Rosalie. Very rarely were women granted estates if a male heir were available. But given the property was denied by her brother, Rosalie was offered the estate. However, just as with her older sibling, Rosalie had begun a courtship with one Emmett McCarty, a banker's son and intended to move with him to his hometown of Philadelphia once they were married where he would take over the family business.

That just left young Edward.

Edward felt much guilt for what had befallen his mother and father. After studying medicine and working to become a doctor to atone for the sin of causing his mother and father their lives, Edward decided, once the estate had been passed to him, that he would return to the family home and rebuild. Edward, however, would not be going alone.

Isabella Swan, who preferred to be called Bella, had captivated Edward's heart and soul the moment she walked into his establishment with a broken wrist. According to her father, Charles, Isabella had slipped on ice just outside their front door and promptly fallen onto her wrist. Edward had an amazing ability to make his patients feel at ease, and Isabelle hardly felt the reset. But just as she was comforted by him, he was entirely captivated by her.

Once her wrist was fully healed, Edward approached Charles Swan and asked for permission to court Bella. After three months, Charles granted Edward permission to ask for Bella's hand in marriage, as well as permission to take Bella away to the northwest. They were wed immediately.

So as Edward headed back to his family's home, he was not alone, for with him, was his new bride.

After several grueling months of travel, Edward and Bella Cullen reached the charred remains of his once glorious home. He set about rebuilding immediately, not wanting his new bride to live in less than luxury for too long, no matter how much Bella told him she was fine. After four months of hard labor, the house was complete and near identical to how it had looked prior to the devastating fire. The only difference was the dining room was now on the opposite side of the estate, and a memorial set up where his parents had died.

Years passed and Edward and his wife thrived in the home. Edward had even set up a new practice, helping any travelers that passed along the way. Even his siblings, who had vowed never to return, had visited him to bask in his success. It was a glorious time for Edward and Isabella. The future looked endless with possibility.

It was three years after the rebuild was complete, Isabella informed Edward that she was with child. It was a happy time for the Cullen family. Edward was the first of the siblings to have a child, and Jasper and Mary Alice, as well as Rosalie and Emmett, were extremely happy for their young brother. More visits were even planned to celebrate the arrival of the newest brood.

Every day passed with a change in Bella. Her belly steadily grew, cradling the result of her love with Edward. It was a wonderful feeling for Edward, to see his wife happy and healthy, and to see the evidence of their union so prominent on display.

But then disaster struck.

It was late October and a snowstorm had blown through the woods. A thin layer of ice coated the front porch and as Bella went to call Edward in from chopping wood for dinner, she slipped and fallen hard.

At first it appeared to be nothing more than a hearty bruise along her backside, as Bella felt fine otherwise. But two days later, she became violently ill, unable to keep even the smallest portions down. Edward, in all his medicinal knowledge could not find reason for his wife's sudden illness. And so it was when night fell, the candles burning down, that the reason for Isabella's sickness showed itself.

Pains reminiscent of labor struck down Bella, causing her to bleed terribly from her nether regions, and crumble in agony, until she could take no more. She nearly died in the process of expunging the small bundle from her womb. It was in that moment that Edward knew their child was lost. At six months along, their baby was no more. The day was All Hallows Eve.

Months passed with Bella no longer herself. She could no longer smile or laugh. She no longer cared to dine choosing only to sit in a rocking chair in the nursery they had designed, staring out the window, watching the days pass with so little as a blink.

Edward was beside himself with grief for the child that never was, but also for his wife. He did not know how to make his wife better. He did not know how to console her through his grief. So while she sat and watched nothing, he sat and watched her. Christmas came and went without a thought.

And then one morning in February, Isabella Cullen opened her eyes to Edward, smiled at him, and told him she loved him with everything she was. And then she told him she was sorry. She was sorry for not keeping their baby safer, and helping it to find life. She was sorry for not being herself and for causing him worries. Then she told him she was sorry, but she would need to leave. There was nothing left for her in the world, now that she had felt their child fall away from them. She knew, deep down, that would have been their only child, and it had been lost. And now she was too. She had failed in her life and could no longer bear to hurt him.

With a gentle kiss on his lips, Isabella left the nursery, walked toward the edge of the property, to where the cliffs broke the ocean, and leapt to her death. It was the anniversary of the day Edward had returned to his childhood home.

There was no consoling Edward after that. Six months passed and each day that went by, Edward felt himself disintegrate further into madness. He no longer maintained his practice, knowing that he had no place in medicine if he couldn't even save his own wife and child. He refused to leave the house, instead parting his time between his bed and the rocking chair in the nursery, where Bella last sat.

Rosalie paid Edward a visit in this time hoping to help him. She watched her brother weep for the life he had lost, and knew nothing she did would right his world again. She stayed for three days. Upon leaving, Rosalie imparted to her husband that there was a distinct smell of smoke, as though a fire were going, coming from the master bedroom. She bid him check Edward one more time, as she returned to the carriage, just to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

When Emmett entered the carriage only moments later, he was pale, and terrified. Emmett told his wife of what he had seen. In the master bedroom, atop the bed, where Edward had lain as they departed, were the charred remains of the young man. Emmett explained no other parcel was touched, the bedding still immaculate as though fresh from the wash. Only the remains of the once vibrant and gifted Edward Cullen lay scarred by flame.

Rosalie was shaken by this. Not only had she lost her youngest sibling, but the circumstances were quite queer. Glancing up at the house, she vowed to never return. This house took her mother and father, and had now destroyed her brother and his young wife. In her grief, she wanted nothing more than to leave and never see the house again.

She now must tell Jasper that, not only have they lost their potential niece or nephew and Isabella in such a tragic way, but they have now lost their brother as well. And they have lost him to most unusual circumstances.

It was once again, All Hallows Eve.

Many months pass, and as Rosalie's grief grows more dormant she instructs her husband to have the house closed up. She wants no one who has Cullen blood to take up residence in it, but she also does not want to sell it. She wants it to remain in the family; guarded from the evil she now believes resides in it. No one should suffer its misery any longer, she believes.

Days after that task's completion, Rosalie finds herself with child. She was ecstatic, and Emmett knew the love of a child would help bring his wife back to herself. The pregnancy progressed well and everyone was excited, including Jasper and Alice, who even came in from New York for the happy occasion.

The night before the birth, Rosalie whispered in confidence to Mary Alice that she wished she was bringing a cousin into the world rather than a lone child. After that, both women wept for the lost family, but promised to honor them as best they could for the rest of their days.

No one knew it then, but tragedy was not finished with Carlisle Cullen's children.

At one o'clock the next day, on October thirty-first, Rosalie McCarty went into labor delivering a healthy, beautiful baby girl named Katherine Isabel for her late aunt, Isabella. While little Katherine was cleaned and dressed by the midwife's assistant, her mother was in distress. With Mary Alice at the midwife's side, trying to find a way to help, Rosalie steadily bled out, a hemorrhage brought about by the birth of her first and only child.

Upon hearing the news, Emmett was overwhelmed with grief. He could not even look at his new daughter, too heartbroken and destroyed by the death of her mother. Just days after he lost his wife, Emmett McCarty was found in his barn, hanging from the rafters, a signed document granting his daughter to Jasper and Mary Alice Cullen in his pocket. It was All Saints Day.

Years pass after this newest tragedy and grief slowly fades into memory. Jasper and his wife, Mary Alice rear Katherine as though she were their own. Jasper joins city council and manages to afford for his family a life of wealth and luxury. On top of what his sister's family had, as well as what was remaindered of his younger brother's estate, Jasper finds himself very well off. As a testament to his family lost, Jasper bequeaths the wealth to Katherine's dowry and to the local hospitals.

She was sixteen when a suitor comes to call. Garrett Sloane, the son of a lawyer was seeking Katherine's affections. He was a kind soul, and soon Jasper was seeing his adopted daughter, for he and Mary Alice never bore a child of their own, down the aisle into the arms of her love.

Once Katherine was off on her new life, exploring the great plains of Africa and visiting the Orient, Jasper asked his wife a favor. He wished to see his childhood home one last time. It had been plaguing his dreams, and he must put it to rest. Mary Alice agreed, having always loved the area, and soon they are off.

As with all things, misfortune once again struck the Cullen name. Only miles from the house, Mary Alice fell victim to pneumonia. The weather was extraordinarily frigid and the trek long. Jasper knew he should have waited until the spring, but his need to see his house was overwhelming. And now his wife was sick as a result.

The journey ended for Mary Alice on October thirty-first. No longer able to withstand the strains the sickness had rendered on her body, she succumbed to sleep in her carriage and never awoke.

Jasper was overcome with anguish at his bride of nearly twenty years suddenly being torn from him. His heart shattered and rage filled the place it had abandoned. He now understood how his brother had felt at the loss of his child and the beautiful Isabella. He now felt the grief Emmett had fallen upon at the demise of Rosalie. He felt it all and it broke him.

Upon reaching the family estate, Jasper stood at the bottom of the steps leading to the porch with hatred in his eyes. He cursed the house for the misery it bestowed upon his family. He cursed it for destroying their happiness and for taking away all they had wanted. As he turned to leave, a single crack could be heard through the trees. And then Jasper felt a pain like no other in the space where his heart should lie. Before he could voice a plea for help, he fell dead where he stood.

The story goes that Katherine Isabel Cullen married Mr. Garrett Sloane and they had two beautiful and healthy children, a boy and a girl each. Katherine did not fall to the same fate as her aunt Isabella, nor did she fall victim to the lot of her birth mother. And neither did Garrett succumb to the torment of the men of Katherine's family.

It is believed that because Katherine had no desire to see the estate of her family, and thus had never traveled the many miles to view it, she was protected from its misery. Instead she was lucky enough to live out her life next to her husband, seeing grandchildren and great grandchildren come to pass.

They say the Cullen family still owns the house that brought about so much heartache. A caretaker has been hired to look after the house as well, since none of the descendants are willing to set foot anywhere near the property. No one knows why the property turned on the family after three generations, but the legend goes that Carlisle Cullen's father, Malachi, was a preacher who liked to dabble in the affairs of the Quileute tribe, the natives in the area. It is said he tried to convert many and as a result the tribe cast a magic on him that followed his family and anyone tied to his family that stepped foot in the house.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense."

"That place doesn't look two hundred years old. It barely looks ten."

"The story said there is a caretaker who looks after the property. Has been since Edward died."

"Come on, Jess, you can't really believe that old house is haunted."

She raised her chin in indignation, looking at said house. "Actually, I do." Looking back at the book of "_Legends of Forks,"_ Jessica Stanley felt a shiver run through her. Her gaze shifted from the book in her arms, to the massive house in front of her. "I've seen things. There is something not right about this place."

"There's no such thing as ghosts." The book was pulled from her arms.

"Michael Newton, you give that back!" she shouted, chasing after her boyfriend in front of the large stairwell leading to the front door.

But Mike was not to be deterred. He didn't believe at all. "The house was abandoned because sometimes rich people run out of money."

"Yeah? This place has been abandoned for over a century. That's a long freaking time," Jessica refuted. "What about the cemetery on the property?"

Now that had Mike's attention. Graveyards always freaked him out a little. "What about it?"

"It looks old, and everything from this book matches up." Jessica pointed out the dates in the book and then over to the line of headstones just beyond the tree line. "And I looked up that Katherine, and she has great-great-great or something grandchildren living on the east coast. It has to be real."

"You just think that because it's Halloween today. Pretty much everything bad happened on that day in that story," Mike laughed.

Just then, the sound of a door creaking open broke the silence of the forest. Turning their heads toward the front door, Jessica and Mike froze at the sight before them. The porch seemed to have a glow to it suddenly, and the air around them chilled quickly.

"Do you smell that?" Mike asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Jessica nodded her head. "Yeah, it smells like…smoke."

"Let's get out of here," Mike suggested just as light enveloped the interior of the house. It looked like fire, and the air, chilled only moments before, suddenly grew hot. "Let's get out of here now!"

The two teens ran from the house, racing to Mike's car as the sound of an explosion rocked behind them. The force nearly knocked them over and the heat beat at their backs. Jumping into the car, they looked back at the pristine white house, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. There was no more glow on the porch, and there was no heat radiating anywhere. Everything was normal again.

"Maybe, um, maybe there is something to that tale," Mike finally admitted once they were back on the road heading toward his house.

"Yeah, maybe."

Neither of them bothered to turn back. Neither bothered to see the house glow red one more time as four couples, one holding an infant child that never saw life, stood against the railing on the porch, watching them go.

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_Well, there you have it. Like I said, just a little something that popped into my head. I killed every one of the main couples lol. Let me know what you thought, please!? Thank you!_


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